I'm a DIRECTOR!!!!!

I'm so excited!! I've been playing around with Powerpoint, and made a couple movies with it, then figured out how to convert them, and uploaded them to youtube!!!!! LOL! Wooooo hoooooooo! I'm a movie maker!!!! I am totally getting addicted to making them! They're so much fun! Feel free to check them out! I'm sticking in the links to them. One is all about my cocker spaniel Bridgett, an the other is adoptable dogs from my rescue I work with! I'm also working on some of the kids!! Too fun!!!!!!

Adoptable Dogs on YouTube!

Bridgett's Movie on YouTube!

I'm loving the artistic and fun way of working with all the pictures I take! LOL! Hope you all like them too! Bridgett's was the 1st one I've ever done. I love it! Let me know what you think too!!!

Latest Fosters

Ok, so this isn't really one of our new fosters, it's Missy, our new beagle girl !LOL! But she looked so cute all snuggled with Julianna in this picture, I just had to share!!!! They were both laying in my fleece fabric scraps tote! LOL! It's Missy's most favorite "dog bed" in the house! Good thing they are the scraps! LOL!

Ok, so the two new fosters are "Pearl" and "Wally". Both are Shih Tzu's rescued from a puppy mill. Pearl was just rescued a week or so ago, and is a cute little female, white with grey and black. She is shaved down right now, but will look cuter when he hair starts to grow back in. She is really neat, because she has ONE blue eye!!! Looks too cool!!! LOL! I call her a "sausage with legs" because she's built like one! LOL! Jasmine is especially in love with her already! As I'm sure you can see! LOL!

Jenna has her "Tilly" of course, another puppy mill rescue, a sweet little Chihuahua who has really come a long way the months we have been fostering her!!!! Even her pal "Chester" is making some great strides lately! The "lovebugs" picture is Jazzy with Pearl, Jenna with Tilly and of course, Julianna with her stuffed Lumpy! LOL!

"Wally" is our other new foster. He has been in another foster home for over a year now, but still just seems not to be making much progress. We are all hoping that a change of scenery will challenge him to start making more positive strides in his rehabilitation. He wont' let anyone touch him still, even after all this time. He's so cute too, he's a black and white Shih Tzu, with a cute floopy tail, and all you want to do is just snuggle him, but he's still so very scarred from his puppy mill experience, that it may never be possible. We are hoping we can help him. We don't have any good pictures of him as yet, but are hoping to get some soon. He goes in nervous circles, and paces from living in a small cage for his early life. it's just really heartbreaking to see how damaged he is, even after a year of rehabilitation.

Uh Oh! The Beagle Adventure...

Oh how I should know better than to surf the free ads........actually this started with a simple email from the freecycle group I belong to! This lady was trying to re-home her two beagles, as she was getting married, and the new man was not a dog lover. This is the little female, Missy. She is 4 years old......spent her 1st life as a breeder (some back yard breeder) and then was given to this lady, who then had her for 3 years. Well, this little lady

had never been to the vet...was in heat....never had any shots.......long maddening story. Well, anyway, long story short, Missy was relinquished to me at my house about 3 weeks ago. She was SO sad, and confused. Spent the 1st several days, watching out the windows and doors just waiting for her lady to return. It was sickening how sad this poor little girl was. She's housetrained, quiet, sweet and lovable and cuddly.......how anyone could just throw her away like garbage, is beyond me. Well, slowly Missy started to adjust to her new situation. The kids just adore her, of course! LOL! She is a great little dog too! So we decided that she will not be adoptable, and we are keeping her. So we now officially have FOUR dogs!!!! Yipe! LOL! Who woulda thought? Missy is now doing really awesome, and is totally made herself at home. She sleeps with us or the kids every nite, loves to hop in your lap on the sofa to watch tv, and is generally learning how to be spoiled! ha ha!

Recent Happy Endings

Well, I've been quite a slacker! I've had quite a few foster dogs whiz thru here lately, and didn't get a chance to post much!! So thought I'd just bring us up to date!

LOL! Bella and Rosie, were both adopted I'm happy to say! Here is Bella with her new family!! Rosie was also adopted to a wonderful family, although Rosie is having some problems with infected paws from her years on the wire in the puppy mill, so please keep her and her new family in your prayers!!! I'm sure they would appreciate it! Any donations for her vet bills from the surgeries could be made to Hubbard's Hounds on their website, and note in the comments "For Rosie's Paw care".

Kayla and Andi, both were adopted together to a wonderful family, with a little girl who just ADORES them both!!!! Kayla and Andi were mixed Chi/Pug puppies, from different litters. They got along together really well, and were real cutie-pies! I'm so glad they got such a great home! You can really see how much they are loved in this picture too! LOL!




Then we got two beautiful cocker spaniels from a KY shelter, Goldie and Buddy. Goldie was a female buff and white cocker girl, and was adopted by Rich and Sara and their boy cocker "Joe"! LOL! They love her to pieces and she and Joe have a nice friendship going. We know she'll have a great home!!!!!



Buddy, is a beautiful Chocolate Brown Cocker boy, who was picked up as a stray, and acted like he'd probably been left outside before being dumped. He was so happy to be in a home with people who loved and cared for him!!! He took to home livin very well, and was adopted by Carole, a wonderful woman, who just loves him soooooooo much!!! He has a friend to play with and has become one happy, healthy and well cared for young boy!!!!! Pretty good considering they were scheduled to be euthanized just days before we got them!!!!! Now both have wonderful new lives!
Then there was Aurora! An adorable little german sheppard puppy! She was quickly snapped up by a great family who had been on our waiting list for a sheppard puppy and was so happy to find her!! She has a big brother to play with and show her the ropes!! And she may even grow into those ears! ha ha!

We also had a small female beagle surrendered to us at our house, but that's another story in itself so I will do a separate blog on that one! LOL! I think that just about covers most of them! We now are fostering Pearl and Wally, two puppy mill rescue Shih Tzu's who have a long way to go before they will be ready for homes of their own. Pearl is coming along well though, and is making positive steps every day! Soon she will be ready to go to her new loving home! So long for now!!

Thanksgiving Thankful Thoughts!

Well, here we are, another Thanksgiving has come, and we have so much to be grateful for!!

• John has a JOB finally! YAY!!!!!! It's been a long hard road, being laid off the last 8 months, but now we have some hope and positive thoughts for life to get better for 2009!
• All the kiddo's with special needs are getting the medical diagnosis and special help they need to stay healthy and happy and continue to thrive!
• All the kids are healthy and happy and growing like little weeds!
• We are happy to be a part of Hubbard's Hounds dog rescue, and proud to have now opened our hearts and home to more than two dozen rescued dogs and helped them on to their forever families since April of this year!
• We added our 4 dogs to our family this year: Buster, Bridgett, Marnie and Missy! We also lost our dear friend Rocky in March, but know he is in heaven getting lots of love and waiting for us to join him someday!
• Our cars are both actually running at the moment, (knocking on wood!) Making our lives much easier! LOL!
  
• Our pellet stove is making a HUGE difference for us this year, and we're so glad we made that decision last winter!!!!! Lovin being WARM!!!
  
• We had an awesome garden this year, and it really helped us thru some tough times. We feel so lucky to have been guided and counseled to do so many important things that really helped us through this rough last few years. Between canning, sewing, knitting etc. we were able to make and grow enough to keep us all fed and clothed and keep house!
• Especially grateful to my great-grandma "Nanny" RIP and gramma Mom, for teaching me all these wonderful skills that have enriched our lives so much!!
• Loving family, friends and church to stand by us and keep us on the right track thru times of crisis!

Just wanted to say THANKS to all our wonderful family and friends, who make life worth living and we are blessed to have you as part of our lives!!!!! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Holiday season!!!!!

Happy Checkup, flu shots.......

Well happy day! Julianna had her nervously anticipated 3 year checkup today......and it went GREAT!!!!!!! What a huge relief! Her weight is 25lbs on the nose, which FINALLY put her on the darn growth curve!!!! She's now in the 3rd percentile for weight and 10% for height (that's been constant) so as far as her weight goes, NO MORE TESTING and procedures for her!! YAY!!!!!!! Thank GOD!!!!!!

Then she had her vision screening, which went great! They had this neat little machine that they aimed at her eye and it did all sorts of readouts.......never seen one before, so that was cool, and good for her too, cause all she had to do was sit still!!!

Hearing screening didn't go quite as well, her left ear tested OK, but her right did not, so they did a second type and it also did not test out normal, so she may be hearing impaired in that right ear, so I'm wondering if that impacts her speaking impairment!!!! SO looking forward to finding out more about that one!

Then we got the utter joy of getting our flu shots together, her and I! LOL!!!! She did GREAT! Just a little cry, then she was very brave and didn't have any screaming or anything! SO proud of my little peanut! She got a pretty winnie the pooh sparkly sticker, so she was pleased! LOL! Now just gotta get the other 3 kids and JOHN done! LOL!!! No way I wanna go thru another bout of the flu! EWWWWWW

And today we got our first real SNOW!!!!! The kids of course are THRILLED to death! LOL!! I would be more thrilled if any of us had actual boots!!!!! Luckily though, I just finished making all the kids hats and mittens and slippers this past weekend, so we were ready! LOL! I even actually knew where my warm soft scarf my sister made me was!!!! Put away! Shocking! ha ha ha!

Well, off to go bask in the toasty warmth of our corn stove......ahhhhh..........

Julianna's 3rd Birthday!!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY JULIANNA!!!!!!!

Our little punkin celebrated her third birthday yesterday, November 11th!! Veteran's Day!!
The older kids and I made her a delicious homemade cake with tasty chocolate frosting made from scratch just for her! It turned out very well, and was enjoyed very much!!

Then we got the the important parts, of singing and wishing and blowing out the candle!! We use a special candle, handed down from her uncles when they were little. It goes from the 1st birthday to the 4th birthday, so she'll be our LAST one using it, and only one more year!!! Sniffle!!!!!! We still can't believe our little baby is no longer a baby at all, but a big 3 year old girl!! Pre-schooler officially!!!

Her brother and sisters were very excited to help hand over the presents and oooh and aaah over them with her!! She really loved her new little lumpy stuffed toy, as well as the two dozen pack of party bubbles!!!!! She also got a big 2 foot tall fairy princess teddy bear all dressed up, and a bunch of new beanie babies!!!

Halloween Fun

Well, another fun night of trick or treating has come and gone. The kids had a great time! They went to their school's halloween party, and got to play games, trick or treat up and down the halls, show off their costumes to friends and teachers and generally have a fun time!

The kids carved more traditional pumpkins this year, versus the mommy-spends-forever doing the intricate little saws etc with the pumpkin carving kit! Johnny even carved most of his all on his own! The kids all chose their faces and how they wanted them, then we also painted and colored on them with marker and of course named them.

Then Halloween night, we went out trick or treating, followed up by heading to the firehouse for the haunted house! Johnny felt really brave this year, and went with Mom and Dad thru the haunted house for the 1st time! We had a lot of fun!

Goodies were checked for safety then devoured with glee by all!